After Parise, Suter go Wild

“We like our defense the way it is and, if there’s a chance to upgrade, certainly we’re going to do that,” he said. “But there is a number of teams looking for defensman now, and they’re difficult to find.”We’ll go with what we have at this point. Same thing up front.”

There are some quality wingers available on the trade market, although the Penguins would be hard-pressed to meet the asking price for either, even if they would decide to pursue one of them aggressively.

Columbus left winger Rick Nash, a premier power forward, is coming off a soap-opera season that included a request to be traded. Blue Jackets management is trying to accommodate him — the Columbus Dispatch reported that the Penguins are on a list of teams to which Nash would approve a trade — but Columbus is hoping to add goal-scoring forwards, and the Penguins have none to spare.

Anaheim, meanwhile, would like to get a second-line center as part of any package for Bobby Ryan. The Penguins have a pretty fair one of those — whether it’s Crosby or Evgeni Malkin who carries that label depends on who you ask — but they aren’t planning to part with either anytime soon.

Still, situations can evolve, and deals that seemed unthinkable can come together with a single phone call.

“We’ll continue to do our homework here and see if we can upgrade our team at some point,” Shero said. “We’ll see what the summer brings us.”